Evaluation of the antibacterial activity of allyl isothiocyanate, clove oil, eugenol and carvacrol against spoilage lactic acid bacteria

In recent years, the antibacterial properties of essential oils (EOs) and EO components have attracted attention, but only few studies have investigated their effect against spoilage lactic acid bacteria (LAB). To collect knowledge of antimicrobial effect of EO and EO components against spoilage LAB, the ability of allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), clove oil, eugenol, and carvacrol to control the growth of 6 types of spoilage-causing LAB was evaluated. Carvacrol, at 500 mg/L, and eugenol and AITC, at 2000 mg/L, could suppress the growth of all LAB. Susceptibility to clove oil varied among strains. Finally, the effect of carvacrol on the growth of 2 types of selected LAB in fresh sausage was evaluated. The number of LAB in sausages treated with 5000 or 10,000 mg/kg of carvacrol was lower than that in the control sausages (to which EO had not been added), and the growth of LAB was significantly suppressed at 20,000 mg/kg (P